Inkjet printing can be used to provide a desired image on a wide variety of different print media and print surfaces. However, inkjet printing on plastic or other polymer based substrates can present issues due to the surface qualities of the polymer substrate.
Typically, polymer substrates have low surface energy. As a result, polymer substrates wet poorly, meaning that deposited ink or other fluids are not absorbed in significant degree by the substrate surface. In inkjet printing, this can result in relatively low densities of ink, variations of density across an image, relatively rapid or non-homogeneous fading of printed images and image smearing on polymer substrates.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.